The use of non-lethal weapons can be an effective tool in riot/crowd control and other peace-keeping operations. Historically, however, the many types of non-lethal weapons have been of limited use during such operations. For example, hand-held or thrown blunt trauma devices (e.g., batons, etc.) lack stand-off range, thereby exposing security forces to high risk especially during large scale operations. The same stand-off range problem applies to electrical stun guns. Projectile kinetic energy devices that fire non-lethal rounds (e.g., plastic bullets, bean bag rounds, etc.) improve the stand-off range problem, but their minimum kinetic energy level (e.g., 150 Joules) delivers a projectile with a force level that can easily cause a permanent injury. Water cannons reduce the chances of inflicting a permanent injury, but their use requires the deployment of large and heavy equipment which lacks mobility and operational flexibility. Further, water cannons cannot be directed toward a particular target/individual during riot/crowd control operations.
Other examples of non-lethal weapons include a wide variety of chemical lacrimators, irritants, or inflammatory agents. However, these weapons cannot be directed toward a particular target/individual during riot/crowd control operations. Further, current deployment methods require the use of atomizers or similar mechanical and/or chemical reaction inducing devices to generate and then disperse a fine mist of the lacrimator, irritant, or inflammatory agent that is being delivered to a volumetric space. However, such volume dispersion is costly and inefficient. That is, the warhead itself is expensive and the lacrimator, irritant, or inflammatory agent (in solid or liquid form) must be diluted into a carrier (in solid or liquid form) to effect atomization. Volume dispersion also means that the weapons cannot be applied at their most potent/effective concentration possible at a particular target or targets as deemed necessary.
To summarize, current non-lethal weapons fail to provide the police and military users the stand-off range, accuracy, operational flexibility, efficiency, and selectivity in the application of non-lethal force to a particular target/individual during riot/crowd control operations.
One solution to these problems is to provide a low cost non-lethal weapon system in which a payload-dispensing frangible projectile can be fired accurately from a range of 10-50 meters to deliver, in a highly efficient manner and at a low cost, a chemical suitable for the non-lethal incapacitation of a single target/individual. Chemicals suitable for the non-lethal incapacitation of a single target/individual include chemical lacrimators, irritants, and inflammatory agents such as ortho chloro benzyl malono nitrile (CS), chloro aceto phenone (CN), oleo resin capsicum (OC), and methoxy cyclo heptra triene (MC). In addition to these chemicals capable of inflicting non-lethal incapacitation, other non-lethal chemical agents for use in riot control include paints, and/or ultraviolet dyes used alone or in combination with persistent and intolerable nauseant odorants like complex mercaptans (e.g., skunk oil, etc.), aliphatic diamines (e.g., putrescine (tetra methylene diamine)) and cadaverine (penta methylene diamine).
One common type of low cost frangible projectile used to deliver a non-lethal agent suitable for the marking of a particular target or individual is known in the art as a "paintball" which is launched towards a target by a gas-powered or pneumatic launcher. However, existing paintball designs are not suitable for the deployment of lacrimators, irritants, inflammatory agents, and/or nauseant odorants due to their excessively frangible nature and their inherent low accuracy and range limitations. Specifically, paintballs quite often break at launch because their external gelatin-based jacket is not structurally capable of reliably withstanding launch forces. This deficiency is especially pronounced when paintballs are fired from a gun powered by a fully charged gas cylinder or when the paintballs are slightly damaged due to storage conditions. Increasing paintball wall thickness does not help because the paintballs would then not fracture reliably when impacting a target.
Further, paintballs have a smooth and spherical shape. The spherical surface creates drag forces upon the paintball as it travels through the air. These aerodynamic drag forces act on the paintball to slow its velocity and limit its range and effectiveness. The drag force is due primarily to the separation of its laminar air flow behind the paintball, known as laminar pressure drag. As a result, the overall drag of a smooth sphere is quite high thereby limiting its velocity and range.